Just Rolled In: Darwin Deez - "Kill Your Attitude" [indie pop / indie rock]

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Two years have passed since Brooklyn's charismatic indie-pop mastermind Darwin Deez released his sophomore effort Songs For Imaginative People. A few weeks ago, the first song since that album, "Kill Your Attitude", was featured on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show and not long after, Deez sent out a blast email to his mailing list fans announcing that his band's third LP Double Down was finished and that it would be available September 18th via Lucky Number Music. A good month for Darwin Deez fans!

We are yanked back into the bittersweet world of Darwin Deez with "Kill Your Attitude", an upbeat indie pop song about the not-so-cheery issue of "interpersonal squabbling". It's immediately recognizable as a Deez tune for its bare-bones introduction with nothing more than a punchy guitar, pulsing snare hits, and Darwin's heartfelt vocals which eventually evolves into a bouncy, hook-heavy jam (complete with a rad half-minute guitar solo) that you can't help but imagine singing and bobbing along to live.

Stream Darwin Deez's new single "Kill Your Attitude" and/or watch the creative official music video below, and check out the classic "Radar Detector" from his 2010 self-titled debut. Pre-order your digital copy of Double Down here and for the physical copy click here.

Swell EP: Monogold - This Bloom [psych pop / indie pop / experimental]

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One of my greatest discoveries of 2011, Brooklyn's very own experimental psych-pop trio Monogold, is finally back in my life with new music. Not unlike The Softest Glow (their amazing LP that initially caught my ear) and the debut We Animals EP before that, the recently released This Bloom EP is by no means lacking in the hook department and is damn sure to make you shake something. Brimming with bouncy beats, soaring falsetto harmonies, tropical guitar licks, kaleidoscopic looping and sampling, and most importantly, positive vibes, these endorphin-inducing sound collages establish Monogold's This Bloom as the go-to pick-me-up record this fall to keep us from slipping into winter hibernation while making the arrival of spring seem within our grasp. 

It may have taken them a while to put out some new jams, but I'm psyched to hear that they are already working on an acoustic followup release called Good Heavens, and sometime next year, they will be gracing us with a full-length record!

Stream and purchase Monogold's entire new EP below and watch a video of the band doing a live acoustic performance of "Holograms" at NYLON Studios in NYC, which may be a bit more autumn-appropriate, so make sure to check out their first two releases on their BandCamp page to get your blood pumping again.

Just Rolled In: Wilder Maker - "Hope Springs" [americana / indie folk]

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Boston-born, Brooklyn-dwelling Gabriel Birnbaum is the songwriter behind the Americana/folk rock band Wilder Maker, which used to be known as Boy Without God and already has a couple records out, but his credits don't stop there. Whether on stage or in the studio, the twenty-eight-year-old musician has played with the likes of Sharon Van Etten, Jens Lekman, Akron/Family, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, DeVotchKa, Landlady, and SKATERS. He is also a member of the Ethiopian pop group Debo Band who released a critically-acclaimed full length back in 2012 via Sub Pop Records.

With this extensive résumé and the release of the lead single, "Hope Springs", from the first volume of Wilder Maker's upcoming Everyday Crimes Against Objects of Desire series, Gabriel Birnbaum is on the right track to making a name for himself and putting his band on the map. The song floats along at a leisurely pace with wispy guitars, dreamy organs, and beautiful boy/girl vocal harmonies, but the most standout characteristics of the track are Birnbaum's blues-y baritone (much like Bill Callahan's voice, or Justin Vernon's, when he's not hitting falsettos or tweaking the AutoTune knob) and the contradictory echo of the word "die" during the hopeful choruses. However, considering that Everyday Crimes... is a conceptual series of three EPs dealing with the tribulations of a rough breakup, the mixed emotions of the choruses make sense, and when bandmate Katie Von Schleicher chimes in with Birnbaum on the choruses just after he finishes reminiscing over his lost love in the verses, it effectively adds a realness to the melancholic situation of which we have just scratched the surface with "Hope Springs".

Pre-order a copy of Everyday Crimes Against Objects of Desire, Vol. I here or get your hands on it when it's released November 18 via Bleaksploitation Records. Enjoy the first single "Hope Springs" from Wilder Maker's three-part EP series below, as well as an excellent track from their 2013 album Year of Endless Light.

Artist Making Waves: Pat Hull [folk / soul / singer-songwriter]

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Originally from Connecticut, singer-songwriter Pat Hull is the son of two classically trained musicians and vocal/piano teachers who fortunately managed to pass on their singing skills and love for music to him. Growing up, Pat picked up multiple instruments like piano, saxophone, and cello, but fell in love with the guitar and starting playing with bands in his college years in New York. After graduating in 2009, Hull moved out to Chico, California for graduate school where he sharpened his skills, recording three albums with the help of other musicians. In 2010, he moved back to Brooklyn where he met and collaborated with Jason Beck and Michael Chinworth on his next two albums, 2011's Light and last year's Shed Skin. Now, Pat Hull resides in Santa Cruz, CA and recently put out his newest record, In The Yellow Room, which is a collection of intimate songs recorded live between 2011 and 2014 with bandmates Mark Robertson and Bob Reynolds at Yellow Room Recording in Portland, Oregon.

As is evident on In The Yellow Room, Pat Hull is one of the few great modern folk musicians with a soulful voice that enraptures you the moment it meets the microphone. My family and I had the pleasure of seeing him perform live on his solo tour this summer in Newburyport, MA, where he played for a small crowd of unsuspecting microbrew aficionados in a local brewery. He played for a few hours, churning out original songs along with a number of classic rock and folk covers that would have slipped by me had my mother not recognized the lyrics and started mumbling along. Everything sounded uniquely his own thanks to the marriage between his alluring singing style and complementary guitar playing. One thing is certain as you listen to Pat Hull play: His impassioned, soothing signature is left on everything he touches.

Jump on over to Pat Hull's BandCamp page to stream all six of his beautiful albums, or you can start below with his two latest records, In The Yellow Room and Shed Skin. Be sure to follow him on Facebook to hear about upcoming shows and releases.

Swell Album: Yellow Ostrich - Cosmos [indie rock]

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Before moving to New York and subsequently signing to Seattle's Barsuk Records, Yellow Ostrich's singer/guitarist Alex Schaaf lived in Wisconsin. He was the frontman of indie rock band The Chairs for a couple years then went solo as Yellow Ostrich in 2009, recording heartfelt numbers on his 4-track that caught my attention for the raw emotion and experimental layering and sampling of his youthful voice (check out 2010's interesting Fade Cave EP for 6 songs he recorded using nothing but his voice and a drum machine). When Schaaf moved to Brooklyn he had already released a total of five EPs and two full-lengths.

Yellow Ostrich's third full-length The Mistress (and fifth release of 2010!) marked the first Y.O. recording that Schaaf made with another human being, current drummer Michael Tapper. After giving The Mistress a proper release in 2011, Barsuk went on to release the following year's excellent full-length Strange Land and the R&B-influenced Ghost EP. Since joining the Barsuk roster, the band has experienced a few personnel changes but currently stands at four members. With their current lineup, Yellow Ostrich brings us their fifth album Cosmos, which was inspired by astronomer Carl Sagan's documentary series of the same name.

As the title of the album suggests, Yellow Ostrich's sound has expanded skyward since Schaaf's solo days by taking on a fuller, at times frantic, rock sound and by inviting celestial synths and electronic effects into the mix to allow for more intricate, atmospheric melodies, recalling Local Natives or Radiohead ("Neon Fists", particularly). Notwithstanding these changes, Yellow Ostrich still is and will always be led by Schaaf's sincere, tender voice, which quavers along gently with the melodies of softer songs like "My Moons", "You Are The Stars", and "Don't Be Afraid", but explodes like a supernova through the heavier walls of sound on tracks like "Shades", "Any Wonder", and "How Do You Do It?". Somehow, Cosmos manages to be Yellow Ostrich's loudest and smoothest record at the same time, thanks to the band's cohesive instrumentation and songwriting and the excellent production of Beau Sorenson (Death Cab for Cutie, Superchunk, Sparklehorse) and Paul Kolderie (Pixies, Radiohead, Dinosaur, Jr.).

Listen to the full album stream below and purchase your own copy here. Also, enjoy my favorite tracks from Yellow Ostrich's three previous records.

Artist Making Waves: Vensaire [pysch pop / indie folk / experimental]

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Among all of the great bands and musicians that blossom out of Brooklyn and those that make the pilgrimage to "the center of the world" to join the scene, one band in particular stands out in this creative crowd—Vensaire. This colorful quintet, comprised of frontman Alex Laliberte, guitarist Robert Earl Thomas (one half of Widowspeak, which released holaOLA's No. 41 album of 2013), clasically-trained violinist Renata Zeiguer, bassist Hunter Hawes, and percussionist Alex Jacobs, draws from traditional Asian music, Western folk rock, and digital sampling to produce beautiful psychedelic folk compositions that sound like something that an Animal Collective/Grizzly Bear/Prince Rama collaboration would birth.

Vensaire already has a self-titled EP under their belt, for which each member wrote his/her own song for the rest of the band to elaborate upon and record. This collective approach to songwriting and recording clearly illustrates the band's desire to allow each member's style and influences to shine through in their music, not to mention it has a pretty excellent outcome.

On April 15 they will release their full-length concept album entitled Perdix, which is based on Homer's Odyssey and inspired by Audubon bird paintings. For now, enjoy the first two singles from Perdix and stream the entire Vensaire EP  below.

Swell Album: Mutual Benefit - Love's Crushing Diamond [experimental pop / baroque folk]

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Before the initial limited release of Brooklyn-based Mutual Benefit's first proper full-length album Love's Crushing Diamond earlier this month via Soft Eyes Records, its twenty-five-year-old creative force, Ohio-raised Jordan Lee, spent a few years hopping around the U.S. with his musician friends popping out numerous EPs, splits, and singles while sharing their beautiful sounds with music lovers, one living room at a time. Since Lee managed to harness the warmth and coziness of those intimate DIY performances to turn out one of recent years' most heartfelt and wholesome indie records, people across the world have been lining up to be gently squeezed into that welcoming living room to enjoy their end of (the) Mutual Benefit. As so, the record is being re-released by Other Music Recording Co. on CD (December 3) and vinyl (January 7).

With Jordan Lee's fragile, but captivating voice as the centerpiece, the rest of the music, filled with natural field recordings, whispy vocal harmonies, melancholic string sections, and other beautifully layered instrumentation, effectively reflects the collectiveness of his live performances. Love's Crushing Diamond deserves all the praise in the world simply for how human and literally wonderful it sounds.

You can buy Mutual Benefit's Love's Crushing Diamond digitally or pre-order the physical album (CD or vinyl) via Other Music Recording Co.. Meanwhile, watch a live performance of the album's lead single "Advanced Falconry" and listen to two other standout tracks below.